Mott the Hopple's All the Young Dudes

I was skeptical before I even put the needle on the record. If you read my Let's Go review, you know that I think an albums opening track, title track, lead single, and any follow ups are windows are focus points of any album. Some albums remain rock solid despite having lame singles – in fact, its almost forgivable the way a mailing fold is forgivable in comics of a certain era (it speaks more to the business model than anything else – but its hard for any album to overcome a poor lead off or title track. In this case, the album leads with a Velvet Underground cover and the title track/ lead single was written by David Bowie. Somebody didn't have a lot of confidence in Mott the Hopple's original material.

Sweet Jane – the lead track – is a fairly generic cover. It's not an attempt to recreate the VU classic, nor should it be. However, Mott never makes it their own. They don't do anything special with the song to justify it being on the release, let alone the opening number.

The Bowie influence that pervades the first side is obvious from the opening notes of the second song. Yet despite the Bowie ambiance, close listening leaves the listener without the emotional experience or satisfaction Bowie's song writing delivers. The only exception is the title track - and that's the song Bowie wrote for the band.

All the Young Dudes is a good song – so much so that the album is a one hit wonder in the truest sense. I always thought the was mismatched on the Juno soundtrack (despite the fact that soundtrack is outstanding, its not a glam collection), but you'd be better off getting the song on the soundtrack or downloading it by itself.

On the second side, the track Soft Ground strays from the Bowie feel and delves into heavy psychedelic territory in the Deep Purple vein. However, the listeners is treated to overly repetitious heavy riffing and none of the bursts of Ritchie Blackmore's virtuosity.

Fans of Bad Company may find Mott the Hopple's take on Are You Ready For Love interesting. I'm not a big fan of Bad Co., so I didn't add any value to the album beyond initial curiosity. I found the track to be a less concise and poorly sung version of one of Bad Company's weaker hits.

Conclusion: Fine album to create Bowie style glam ambience at a party, but stick with the real thing for a compelling listen.
Even going into the album I was skeptical. If you read my Let's Go review, you know that I think an albums open track, title track, lead single, and any follow ups are windows are focus points of any album. Some albums remain rock solid despite having lame singles – in fact, its almost forgivable the way a mailing fold is forgivable in comics of a certain era (it speaks more to the business model than anything else – but its hard for any album to overcome a poor lead off or title track. In this case, the album leads with a Velvet Underground cover and the title track/ lead single was written by David Bowie. Somebody didn't have a lot of confidence in Mott the Hopple's original material.

Sweet Jane – the lead track – is a fairly generic cover. It's not an attempt to recreate the VU classic, nor should it be. However, Mott never makes it their own. They don't do anything special with the song to justify it being on the release, let alone the opening number.

The Bowie influence that pervades the first side is obvious from the opening notes of the second song. Yet despite the Bowie ambiance, close listening leaves the listener without the emotional experience or satisfaction Bowie's song writing delivers. The only exception is the title track - and that's the song Bowie wrote for the band.

All the Young Dudes is a good song – so much so that the album is a one hit wonder in the truest sense. I always thought the was mismatched on the Juno soundtrack (despite the fact that soundtrack is outstanding, its not a glam collection), but you'd be better off getting the song on the soundtrack or downloading it by itself.

On the second side, the track Soft Ground strays from the Bowie feel and delves into heavy psychedelic territory in the Deep Purple vein. However, the listeners is treated to overly repetitious heavy riffing and none of the bursts of Ritchie Blackmore's virtuosity.

Fans of Bad Company may find Mott the Hopple's take on Are You Ready For Love interesting. I'm not a big fan of Bad Co., so I didn't add any value to the album beyond initial curiosity. I found the track to be a less concise and poorly sung version of one of Bad Company's weaker hits.

Conclusion: Fine album to create Bowie style glam ambience at a party, but stick with the real thing for a compelling listen.